LCC – Open Canoe Descent of the River Spey (24 – 27 October 2021) The five members of the party convened at our planned launching point near Kingussie at around lunchtime on Saturday and soon got busy with the car shuttle to Spey Bay, where we intended to finish the trip four days later. This involved a 130-mile round-trip, and it was early evening before we were ready to put the boats on the water and paddle to our first campsite – which was 100m downstream! (It should be noted that one of our party – Graham – had launched early on Saturday morning, much higher up stream than the rest of us, and had paddled 20km further). We were in our sleeping bags shortly after it got dark at 6:30pm. The next day we were out of our tents at 7:30am and ready to paddle by 9:00am. This was the pattern we would follow for the rest of the trip. There was not much flow on the river, but a strong south-westerly wind helped us make good progress. We soon reached Lochinsh and were swiftly blown across it. It was a pity that none of us had had the foresight to bring a sail. First lunch (or was it second breakfast?) was taken in a sheltered spot at the eastern end of the loch, where Graham engaged a couple of anglers in fish-orientated conversation. We took third breakfast (or first/second lunch) at Aviemore, and then continued to an excellent camping spot on an island just upstream of Boat of Garten. We lit a small campfire and chatted around it until the ungodly hour of 8:30pm! I think whisky might also have been imbibed. The following morning, we packed our kit and paddled a few kilometres to Grantown on Spey, […]

GB Freestyle Selections Weekend 23rd and 24th October 2021 What a weekend that was. Two days of competition for a chance to represent Great Britain at the 2021 Freestle Canoeing World Championships in Nottingham 2022. Harvey and I were competing in OC1. We had watched the World Championships in Sort 2019 and thought that we could do that. I sold my big yellow Canoe and bought two freestyle OC1s. Our first competition was the British Freestyle Championship 2021 held in Nottingham this year. Harvey came 4th place. I came in 5th. It was a really great experience, and I enjoyed the competition format a lot. We entered for GB Selections held this weekend for a chance to represent Great Britain and try and promote the niche sport of OC1. Selections was over two days. Two separate completions both held on Twin Wave, with points and percentages, that we don’t really understand, deciding the selection position. As I understand, the result on the day isn’t the final decision. I look forward to the mystery that unfolds with the OC1 category. 6 people going for the team. Adam Ramadam, Connor Proud, Christopher Noble, Jolyon Evans Jo Buddha , Harvey Harwood and myself. Day one was a nightmare. A tricky Twin Wave produced No points for Harvey, Adam or me. 20 points for Jo and Connor, with Chris winning the day scoring 90 points for a big loop. Day two for me was a better wave. I won the day with 35 points. Connor and Jo scored 20 points, Harvey scored 10, with Chris and Adam on zero. So, the winners of day one and day two scored zero on the other day. This means we can’t qualify, so Connor and Jo who scored points on both days are top of the leaderboard. […]

Nottingham canoe polo tournament by Josh Cook Over the weekend 6 players from LCC have taken part in a friendly tournament down in Nottingham. On the Saturday the team played 5 games after winning 3 games drawing 1 and losing 1 the team placed third in their group which meant the team wad through to the quarter final play offs. Sunday morning the quarter final came. After a really hard-fought game losing 1:0 at half time. The team manged an amazing equaliser in the second half with 20 seconds left on the clock!! This meant the game went to golden goal. The team fought hard and after some fantastic defending LCC scored and were through to the semi-final. LCC put up a stern fight in the semi-final but unfortunately lost the game 3:1. This meant the team went into the third and 4th round placing, so a bronze medal was still all to play for. LCCs last game came and what a game it was again after going 1:0 down in the first half the team once again fought back hard scoring the equaliser with 1 minute left taking the game to another golden goal! Filled with confidence the team started off defending under relentless attack. As the game progressed LCC had a number of brilliant efforts on goal. In the final 2 minutes LCC got a long shot off which was then saved and deflected back into LCCs possession, and a blistering goal was scored!! Meaning LCC had secured third place!! Well done to all for a fantastic weekend off polo. The team was made up off: Josh Cook Morgan Rees Josie Moss Callum Housley Aaron Jackson Dean Flynn Many thanks Josh

2021 Scottish Sea Kayaking Trip to the Summer Isles Day 13 Friday Eilean Tloram (Fishing Station) to Charlestown via loch Shieldaig and loch Kerry by Ian Bell The aim today was to have a leisurely paddle to get us to the outskirts of Gairloch by mid-afternoon at latest, set up camp and sort car the ferry and create a very short paddle to the final landing and the journey home on Saturday. Again, we woke to a misty start but less midges. So, with boat packed and positioned on the beach so we had circumnavigated Ellean Tioram, our island camp. We set of at 8:00am, backtracking on the latter part of previous days route. Stopping for elevenses and 1st lunch etc at Port Henderson. Still no sun, just mist and low cloud but conditions were warm and very calm. We noticed a pair of what appeared to be a set of abandoned Crocks on the beach. Have decided that they were too big for any of us but then noticed some activity in water just of the rocks at end the right-hand end of beach. At first, we thought it was an otter but soon realised it was the owner of said shoes, snorkelling and fishing for Scallops. The next section of the route took us around the headland into Gairloch. We planned our next stop to be at Badachro, which just so happened to be a Pub with sheltered landing. Unfortunately, we discovered it was not open until midday so rather than hanging around in the rain for an hour or so we paddle on. We explored the sheltered yacht moorings and then on around into Loch Shielding and Loch Kerry where we had another lunch stop and passed several other day kayak groups. After the second lunch we […]

2021 Scottish Sea Kayaking Trip to the Summer Isles Day 12 Thursday Seana Chamas Bay to Eilean Tloram (Fishing Station) by Frankie Annan The 8:00am avoid the midges starts were a now well-established routine, breakfast at elevenses (which was pretty much never at 11am) and a coffee without a mouthful of Scottish midge. The gentle paddle to the Fish Station was yet more of the coast that just keeps giving. More caves to explore and rocks to hop around in the sunshine once the morning fog had burned off. The search for the next 5* campsite bypassed some wonderful beaches that were discounted for being too busy (5 people). “Around the corner was a better option”, promised Keith. Redpoint beach did not disappoint. After a debate about which end of the beach to land on, Andy suggested the left end, so of course we went to the right towards the fishing refuge, and abandoned crofts landing on the beach to find yet another wonderful camping spot. We were at the farthest point south of our trip as Friday’s plan was a paddle into Gairloch via the pub – but that is a tale for someone-else’s write up! With tents pitched, there was time to explore the sand dunes and walk along the beach. A collection of old rusty anchors was explored, along with the fishing shelter and the ruins, before walking along the beach and pondering if aliens had landed. Another very relaxed day of paddling rounded off with a sunny afternoon on the beach, some strange conversation between Andy and Keith, that had something to do with cricket I believe, and an early night to avoid the midges. More photos……… To see more pages from the whole trip go to the Major trips and Expedition reports tab on the […]

2021 Scottish Sea Kayaking Trip to the Summer Isles Day 11 Wednesday Slagan Bay to Seana Chamas Bay via Rubha Reidh by David Grimes I woke early to the haunting calls of a pair of loons on the water (that is, beautiful seabirds, not over-enthusiastic dawn kayakers) piercing the deafening silence of the bay and the ruined village above it.  I had assumed that the ruins were as a result of the clearances.  However, it seems that the clan chief of the Mackenzies in Gairloch refused to evict his tenants during the clearances of the 19th century and, as a result, cleared Highlanders from other communities made their way to settle in the area.  However, the population dwindled because of the decline in the agricultural economy.  Reputedly, there are strangers buried in the village – they came ashore to raid but had been spotted in advance and the villagers were ready and waiting for them.  The only hostile visitors waiting for us were the inevitable clouds of midgies – however there were times when I felt as though a swift despatch at the hands of a pitchfork wielding local might have been preferable to being tormented by a million psychopathic critters. The day started somewhat overcast but calm with very little wind as we made the short crossing to the headland of Rubha Reidh, resisting the temptation of a detour down into Loch Ewe.  There were some hugely impressive red rock arches to explore.  As we worked our way along the coast to the Rua Reidh lighthouse, the coastal features were like a sea kayakers sweetshop with fantastic rock formations, caves and a very photogenic waterfall.  I say photogenic, it was until several of us tried to paddle underneath it and recreate the old Timotei adverts.  One particular cave was […]

Kingsway Pool starts back on THURSDAYS at 9:00pm Kingsway Pool – Widnes Thursday (Beginners, general paddling and rolling) Thursday, 7 October ’21   8:45pm – 10pm BST Kingsway Pool, Kingsway, Widnes, WA8 7QH 20 spaces available Click on our booking page to reserve a place……… More information from our venues page…… Every Thursday 1 hour Club Pool Session (The session runs from 9:00pm to 10:00pm but you are advised to arrive for 8:45pm). Session Supervisor(s) Richard Clews; Stuart Conway; Nick Coughlin; Dave Reynolds & Keith Steer Cost: £5.00 for 1 hour, free use of boats and equipment and free coaching. Plenty of club boats and paddles available or bring your own. (These must be clean from all forms of contamination, ie washed inside and out with freshwater.) Sea kayaks will be allowed but only if at least two places left (18 or less from 20 places). Should the pool fully book you may have to use a pool boat! You MUST be a full member of the club to paddle with us

2021 Scottish Sea Kayaking Trip to the Summer Isles Day 10 Tuesday Fraoch Eilean Mor, around greenstone point to Slagan Bay by Andy Garland We had spent the night camped at yet another idyllic spot. It had a backdrop of the Torridon mountains to the east and the Black Cuillin of Skye across the sea to the west. Added to that, a golden beach extended to the south. This beach was made of several trillion particles of sand – tiny, tiny grains of silica that did their upmost to invade absolutely everything. Despite fastidious efforts to keep the tent clean it still got everywhere…in my socks, sleeping bag, mug, toothbrush and into just about every bodily orifice that I possess. You might guess correctly that a sandy beach is not my favourite place to camp. Anyway, as usual we were on the water at a respectable time, and we continued our journey south. Before long we paddled past a tiny settlement, called…Sand! (seriously). After that the coast took on a much rockier character as we passed around Greenstone Point. The winds continued to be light, and we had great paddling conditions. Our next camp was at Slagan Bay. Now then, after the best part of two weeks on the water the days had begun to blur into one, and I have no recollection of what Slagan Bay actually looked like. However, I can confidently say that I did not camp on sand! More photos……… To see more pages from the whole trip go to the Major trips and Expedition reports tab on the club website or click here…….

2021 Scottish Sea Kayaking Trip to the Summer Isles Day 09 Monday Càrn Nan Sgeir (island) to Camas a’ Chruthcach via small village with wind generators and solar panels (Scraig) then across little loch Broome to Anthrax island by Catriona Hare Having enjoyed yesterday’s long car shuttle (Sunshine and scenery make all the difference.) and the fantastic sunset on last night’s beach camp  I was looking forward to today’s paddle. Today I would complete an unexpected two-day bonus extension to the first week. Keith found somewhere I could pick up my car at the end of the day. We set off promptly at 8:45, 15 minutes before we had agreed to leave, at the start of week two the packing was getting quicker even without midges. The midges were kept at bay by the wind which also meant it was definitely a cag day from the outset, only my second of the trip. We started off by paddling round the small island we had camped on the night before, seeing the now infamous wind turbine from day 1 ! After the circumnavigation we paddled across to the mainland near Cailleach Head. There was a reasonably strong northerly wind so for this part of the trip we had a following sea. We rounded Caillach Head and entered the mouth of Little Loch Broom and headed down the northern coast to Scoriag, where we were sheltered from the wind for a time. Scoriag is an isolated off grid community with no road access, I wondered if it was a suitable working from home location. We stopped by the jetty at Scoriag for second breakfast or first lunch at about 11:00. We headed off from Scoriag across the mouth of Little Loch Broom towards the cliffs on the opposite side near Leac an […]

2021 Scottish Sea Kayaking Trip to the Summer Isles Day 08 Sunday Ardmair Point to pebble beach on Carn Nan Sgeir (island). Keith Steer After all enjoying the evening meal arranged by Roger and Catriona most of us were up early in the morning and busy packing our boats for the second week. Around 9:00am and Ian, Catriona and Dave headed off for the car shuttle to leave a vehicle at our two finish points. Catriona could only stay for another 2 days. Frankie, Andy and I enjoyed numerous coffee`s and second breakfasts on the steep shingle point opposite Admair Campsite. We set off just before midday and headed out past the Isle of Martin and before long saw the same wind turbine that we had spotted on numerous occasions on the first day. After a couple of hours of paddle in saw Carn na Sgeir, a small island with a pebble tombolo (spit) between the two islands. We landed and enjoyed a late lunch and brew on the beach. It really was a stunning place with views all around the Summer Isles. After some discussion and consultation with the tide tables (we were on neaps) this spot proved too good an opportunity given the long shuttles and idyllic location to pass up. We decided to stay the night, having vowed never to bypass a 5-star campsite. We put up our six tends on the flat top of the pebble beach – we had great views over the water to the West and East. It did not take long to explore the small island and chatted and drank coffee until it was time to cook our evening meal. We all slept soundly that night. On our return we discovered that the next island over, Càrn Deas, was up for sale […]